Architecture as a Profession

Architecture as a profession is the practice of providing architectural services. The practice of architecture includes the planning, designing and oversight of a building's construction by an architect. Architectural services typically address both feasibility and cost for the builder, as well as function and aesthetics for the user.

In the 1440s, the Florentine architect, Alberti, wrote his di Re Aedificatoria, published in 1485, a year before the first edition of Vitruvius, with which he was already familiar. Alberti gives the earliest definition of the role of the architect. The architect is to be concerned firstly with the construction. This encompasses all the practical matters of site, of materials and their limitations and of human capabiliity. The second concern is "articulation"; the building must work and must please and suit the needs of those who use it. The third concern of the architect is aesthetics, both of proportion and of ornament.

The role of the architect, although constantly evolving, has been central to the design and implementation of the environments in which people live. Architects must have the skills and knowledge to design, plan and oversee a diverse range of projects, from a small residence to stadium.

The work of an architect is an interdisciplinary field, drawing upon mathematics, science, art, technology, social sciences, politics and history, and often governed by the architect's personal approach or philosophy. Vitruvius, the earliest known architectural theorist, states: "Architecture is a science, arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning: by the help of which a judgement is formed of those works which are the result of other arts." He adds that an architect should be well versed in other fields of learning such as music and astronomy.